Hold Congress Accountable

About FreedomConnector

Find activists, groups, and events right in your own neighborhood. Join FreedomConnector to get involved and learn more about key issues threatening our economic freedom. Whether you’re looking for like-minded people, trying to boost your existing group’s impact, or simply trying to stay up on current events, FreedomConnector is the place to start. See what’s happening in your state today!

Years ago, Illinois decided that smoking was bad for its citizens and put a cigarette tax into place thinking they'd do two things: one, break the people who live there of a nasty filthy habit that was shortening their lives and keeping the Democratic politicians who cared about their fragile health up at night, and two, raise a little cash for a state that is so far in debt California won't be seen in public with it anymore.

It's not everyday that we get to see the hard work of free market researchers and analysts demonstrated so vividly. That's why this post is so special. Because, on the very same day that the Mackinac Center for Public Policy published this paper on the striking relationship between smuggling and cigarette taxes, we have this story about a man caught trafficking 193 untaxed cartons of cigarettes.